


the world already has you

by llien



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Unreliable Narrator, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28904724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llien/pseuds/llien
Summary: “You sure?” Sora asked, and finally, Riku turned to look at him properly. His blue eyes were wide, searching Riku’s face for telltale signs Sora knew so goddamn well. He hated it, how well Sora still knewhim.His tanned hands grasped the edges of the windbreaker, pulling it close even as he asked. It made Riku laugh softly, how used Sora was to Riku taking care of him; catering to him, seeing to his needs, focused entirely on him.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 110





	the world already has you

**Author's Note:**

> Set post-KH3. After all is said and done, being brought back isn't as clear and cut as it may seem.

Riku sat on the edge of the skyscraper.

Beneath him, San Fransokyo unfolded like a pale picture book, a world of whimsy and electric alacrity. Dawn crept over the hills on the horizon, and fog blurred the world into a dreamlike haze. It was chilly enough that he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his windbreaker, both hands equally wind-chafed as he exposed them in turns to pull at his cigarette.

It was a pretty bad habit, but he reveled in it. It was  _ his  _ bad habit, and he wasn’t going to break it quite yet. He especially liked smoking on cold, early mornings like this, when it was even stupider to flirt with inevitability for no good reason. 

He crossed his feet at the ankles, shivering violently for one moment, enough to warm his body back up. His long hair was a nuisance, but he was as loathe to cut it as he was to quit smoking. With a pale, red-nipped hand, he tucked the strands behind his left ear so the wind would stop blowing it in his face. That was when he heard the gentle touch of soles scuffing the roof behind him, abrupt and near. He knew who it was before he heard the steps, a gait so familiar it made his heart squeeze in overjoyed acknowledgement. 

He wondered when that’d die. He exhaled, long and full.

Sora shivered, vocal about it like he was with every other antic, and Riku’s pursed lips pulled into a grin without his permission. He was so silly. Some things never changed.

“Rikuuu,” Sora said, carelessly flopping down to sit beside him. There wasn’t any fear of falling a hundred floors down when you could fly or cajole gravity into letting you float before landing. Still, most people didn’t risk it — as usual though, Sora wasn’t like most people. Riku would always maintain that Sora’d been born with a few screws loose in the good sense department. “It’s too cold up here.”

He snorted, tapping his cigarette free of lingering ashes between two fingers and his thumb on the edge. He heard Sora breathe in deep, but no comment came yet. “You’ve been to Arendelle,” Riku said, careful to keep his voice light and calm. He didn’t know why he hated saying it, why he felt jealous of the fact. But he was. “You can’t tell me this compares to that.”

Sora shivered dramatically. “No way. Just remembering makes me cold! But this and that are different.”

“You’re so ridiculous,” Riku said, rolling his eyes, but before he knew it he was shrugging out of his windbreaker, cigarette tucked in his mouth to keep his hands free. It wasn’t until he was draping it over Sora’s shoulders that Riku realized it’d smell like smoke, and less like him. His cold-nipped fingers brushed Sora’s hoodie, and even though he had no need or reason to, he let the side of his hand brush Sora’s neck — his skin was so warm, it burned. Sora shivered again, and Riku wished it was for a different reason than the cold. He kept his gaze trained on Sora’s nape, peeking out as Riku’s windbreaker fell too low to even attempt covering it. He’d barely felt the familiar touch of his necklace on his knuckles, eyes tracing the path, before he gasped softly, jerking away and busying his hands with the stick between his lips. His heart thudded painfully.

“You sure?” Sora asked, and finally, Riku turned to look at him properly. His blue eyes were wide, searching Riku’s face for telltale signs Sora knew so goddamn well. He hated it, how well Sora still knew  _ him.  _ His tanned hands grasped the edges of the windbreaker, pulling it close even as he asked. It made Riku laugh softly, how used Sora was to Riku taking care of him; catering to him, seeing to his needs, focused entirely on him.

“Just zip it up,” Riku said, and put his cigarette out. For a moment, he considered flicking the bud over the city, but he knew Sora would be disappointed so he didn’t. “Why are you even awake right now? Shouldn’t you be asleep for another five hours?”

“Har-dee-har,” Sora said, and Riku grinned. “I’ll have you know I always wake up early now!”

Immediately, that sobered him. The tone in Sora’s voice was all wrong, false bravado and a thin veneer of pride. He glanced at Sora again and found him studiously studying the far distance, avoiding meeting Riku’s eyes. It was almost insulting that Sora thought Riku wouldn’t notice. Maybe to anyone else, that would’ve flown under the radar, but not to  _ him,  _ not to Riku.

He wished, suddenly, that he could take Sora’s hand. Grasp Sora’s fingers over his own, as if asking him for a dance. The most chaste of gestures, that would bleed Riku’s heart for the whole world to see, if anyone just thought to look. But they wouldn’t, not at him. 

He didn’t know what he should do. Call Sora out on it, like they both knew he could? Or let it pass, because it wasn’t him that Sora wanted to truly be vulnerable with?

Sora answered for him. “We fought,” he said, no preamble, no leadup. As if he knew Riku would understand immediately, and damn it  _ he did.  _

“He’s so—” Sora struggled for the right word, but poetry failed him as he spat,  _ “stupid.  _ He’s so stupid. He doesn’t get it.” 

“Doesn’t get what?” Riku indulged. He felt the urge to shudder when the wind kicked up, but he stayed the impulse so Sora wouldn’t notice and feel guilty. “He’s always been an idiot, so you have to specify,” Riku added, grinning wryly. That got a laugh out of Sora, the inside joke doing more to comfort Sora then any bold words could. It was amazing to Riku how well he could still play Sora, and vice versa, a rhythm established between them that he doubted would ever fall quiet. Not on his end, at least. 

“He pushes me away,” Sora said, ducking his head to twist his fingers. They barely peeked out of the cuffs of Riku’s jacket. A dark thrill of delight hummed in Riku at the realization that Sora would walk away from this encounter smelling only like  _ him.  _ “Again and again. I wonder if I’m supposed to be getting a hint.”

All of his words were deceptively light, but Riku knew better. Sora was hurt somewhere deep, and the serrated blade was only twisting and turning to embed itself further, leaving more damage in its wake. He hated that he was responsible for driving that blade into Sora in the first place, and that he’d done it  _ happily.  _ He shook his head minutely, a sharp jerk to try and focus on Sora instead of the past. 

“No,” Riku responded confidently. He glanced away from Sora, unable to say the next line while looking at his hopeful expression. “Trust me, he’s in love with you. Head over heels, moon and stars, all of that.” He laughed emptily. “If you only knew how much he’s wrapped around your little pinkie.”

Completely, entirely, and without hesitation. One word from Sora would bring him to his knees.

Sora laughed, a little uncomfortable but mostly flattered. “As if. He won’t even look at me sometimes. Like I’m… I’m such a disappointment.” Then, before Riku could refute that whole-heartedly, Sora scooted over until he was flush against Riku’s side, threading Riku’s arm through his to hug to his chest. “You’re the exact same. I can see your goosebumps you know.”

Hot heat tinged Riku’s cheeks, chasing away whatever chill could’ve possibly been there before. He clenched his hands in tight fists, looking away.  _ “Someone  _ was complaining about how cold it was, and it wasn’t me.”

Sora rested his cheek on Riku’s shoulder, as comfortable as he always was around him. He snorted a laugh. “Right, sure, it’s  _ my  _ fault you offered me your jacket.” 

On the tip of his tongue was the most honest truth he could ever speak, but he swallowed it back down, opting to shrug one shoulder so he wouldn’t dislodge Sora. This close, the wind couldn’t steal Sora’s scent, and he smelled so much like home it physically hurt Riku. He wished he could bottle it up, curl up inside it, to be embraced cheek to chest and lose himself in wholeness. 

Sora wasn’t meant for him though, and it was out of both love and self-hatred that he said his next words. “He’s just scared. You’re the good thing he’s the most afraid of losing, and he’d rather keep you at arm’s length than not have you at all.” He hoped Sora wouldn’t think twice about the way Riku rested his cheek on Sora’s head, nose buried in Sora’s hair. Hoped he wouldn’t notice the chaste kiss pressed there, with all of his heart, with his goodbye. “But believe me,” he said, hoping even more like a fool that Sora would read into his words but dreading it all the same, “he gave you his heart so long ago he can’t even remember. You’re his world, Sora. You’re his  _ everything.” _

Sora squeezed his arm tight, turning his face to press it against the swell of Riku’s bicep, hiding briefly from the world. It made Riku’s heart skip a beat, knowing that with him, Sora still felt safe. 

“Okay!” Sora said, firmly and enthusiastically. He pulled away entirely, and Riku hid the way his entire body went cold at the loss of warmth. He busied himself unzipping the windbreaker, obviously bringing the conversation to a close. “I’ll try talking to Riku again. You  _ would  _ know the best, right?”

Sora sure knew how to drive things home. Riku cracked a grin, taking the windbreaker back to lay across his lap. “Of course,” he boasted, affecting his normal posturing so Sora wouldn’t notice. This, Sora wouldn’t be familiar with. He’d had years with a Riku gone soft and fond by now. Sora beamed at him.

“Thanks! I’ll see you back at the castle, kay?”

Riku turned back forward to study the sun now having risen further above the hills, waving one hand over his shoulder. 

The moment Sora was gone, the replica buried his face in the jacket and breathed in deep.

**Author's Note:**

> "I thought by finding some new strength I could be someone, someone who's not you! But nothing changes... I'm still just empty! Everything about me is borrowed. As long as you're around, I'll never be anything better than a shadow!"


End file.
